A vehicle may include: a floor panel; a rocker extending along a side edge of the floor panel; a rear side member located on a rear side of the rocker and extending along a front-rear direction of the vehicle; and a suspension. The suspension may include a trailing arm; and a bracket connected to the trailing arm via a bush. The bracket may be fastened to the rocker at a first fastening point by a first bolt and fastened to the rear side member at a second fastening point by a second bolt.
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1. A vehicle, comprising:
a floor panel;
a rocker attached to and extending along a side edge of the floor panel;
a rear side member located on a rear side of the rocker and extending along a front-rear direction of the vehicle; and
a suspension;
wherein
the suspension comprises:
a trailing arm; and
a bracket connected to the trailing arm via a bush,
the bracket is directly fastened to the rocker at a first fastening point by a first bolt and directly fastened to the rear side member at a second fastening point by a second bolt, and
the rocker, the rear side member, and the bracket are directly fastened to each other at the first fastening point by the first bolt.
2. A vehicle, comprising:
a floor panel;
a rocker attached to and extending along a side edge of the floor panel;
a rear side member located on a rear side of the rocker and extending along a front-rear direction of the vehicle;
a suspension; and
an outdoor floor crossmember protruding downward from the floor panel and extending along a left-right direction of the vehicle,
wherein
the suspension comprises:
a trailing arm; and
a bracket connected to the trailing arm via a bush,
the bracket is directly fastened to the rocker at a first fastening point by a first bolt and directly fastened to the rear side member at a second fastening point by a second bolt, and
the bracket is directly fastened to the outdoor floor crossmember at a third fastening point by a third bolt.
3. The vehicle of
4. The vehicle of
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This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-193498 filed on Oct. 24, 2019, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference into the present application.
The technology herein disclosed relates to a vehicle. In the present disclosure, the vehicle includes a gasoline-powered vehicle, an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, a fuel-cell vehicle, and the like.
In a vehicle described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-290665, its suspension includes a trailing arm. A tip portion of the trailing arm includes a bush. A peripheral portion of the bush is fixed to the trailing arm. A shaft portion of the bush is fixed to a rear side member (which is called a rear frame in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-290665) of a body. The trailing arm is therefore swingable about the bush relative to the rear side member.
Depending on an arrangement of members of the body, there may not be enough space for attaching the bush to the rear side member. The inventors of the present disclosure contemplated attaching the bush to a connection between the rear side member and a rocker, and found that the connection failed to have a sufficient strength in case of attaching the bush to the connection. The present disclosure proposes a technology of attaching a bush to a connection between a rear side member and a rocker while ensuring strength of the connection.
A vehicle disclosed herein may comprise: a floor panel; a rocker extending along a side edge of the floor panel; a rear side member located on a rear side of the rocker and extending along a front-rear direction of the vehicle; and a suspension. The suspension may comprise a trailing arm; and a bracket connected to the trailing arm via a bush. The bracket may be fastened to the rocker at a first fastening point by a first bolt and fastened to the rear side member at a second fastening point by a second bolt.
In this vehicle, the trailing arm is connected to the bracket via the bush. The bracket is fixed to the rocker and the rear side member. According to this configuration, the bush can be attached to a connection between the rocker and the rear side member via the bracket. In this vehicle, the bracket is fastened to the rocker at the first fastening point and is fastened to the rear side member at the second fastening point. Coupling the rocker and the rear side member via the bracket as such enables the connection therebetween to have strength. Therefore, the connection between the rocker and the rear side member can have strength even when the bush is attached to the connection.
An electrically-powered vehicle in an embodiment includes a traction motor mounted thereon. The electrically-powered vehicle travels by the traction motor driving a wheel.
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The knuckle 132 rotatably supports a hub 124 shown in
The trailing arm 150 is fastened to the knuckle 132 by bolts 144. The trailing arm 150 extends frontward from the knuckle 132. A tip portion of the trailing arm 150 extends diagonally frontward and upward. A through hole 150a that penetrates the trailing arm 150 in the left-right direction is formed at a tip of the trailing arm 150. A bush 160 is located in the through hole 150a.
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As described above, the right rear side member 52 covers the part of the lower surface of the outdoor floor crossmember 42 at and near its front end. As shown in
Similar to the trailing arm 150 on a right side of the suspension 130, a trailing arm on a left side of the suspension 130 is also connected to the body 10 via a bracket. The bracket for the trailing arm on the left side is fastened to the outdoor floor crossmember 42, the left rocker 30, and the left rear side member 50 by bolts. In other words, the outdoor floor crossmember 42, the left rocker 30, and the left rear side member 50 are coupled to one another via the bracket.
Next, a function that the above-mentioned body 10 has will be described.
As described above, in the body 10 in the embodiment, the outdoor floor crossmember 42 is located on the rear side of the indoor floor crossmember 40. The battery case 70 extends from the position on the front side of the indoor floor crossmember 40 to the position on the rear side of the indoor floor crossmember 40 and on the front side the outdoor floor crossmember 42. As such, locating the outdoor floor crossmember 42 by displacing rearward away from the indoor floor crossmember 40 and allowing the battery case 70 to extend into a created space therebetween enables upsizing of the battery case 70. Due to this, a capacity of a main battery contained in the battery case 70 can be increased.
Due to the upsizing the battery case 70 as described above, the outdoor floor crossmember 42 is located on the rear side of the indoor floor crossmember 40, thus a space for attaching the bracket 170 for the trailing arm 150 to the right rear side member 52 is reduced. Accordingly, in the vehicle in the embodiment, the bracket 170 is installed at the connection between the right rear side member 52 and the right rocker 32. The bracket 170 is fastened to the right rocker 32 by the bolt 116. The bracket 170 is fastened to the right rear side member 52 by the bolt 114. In other words, the right rocker 32 and the right rear side member 52 are coupled to each other by the bracket 170. This enables the connection between the right rocker 32 and the right rear side member 52 to have sufficient strength even when the bracket 170 is attached to the connection. Furthermore, the bolt 116 fastens the right rocker 32, the right rear side member 52, and the bracket 170 to one another at a fastening point of the bolt 116. Due to this, the strength of the connection between the right rocker 32 and the right rear side member 52 can further be improved.
In the vehicle in the embodiment, the bracket 170 is fastened to the outdoor floor crossmember 42 by the bolts 112. In other words, the right rocker 32, the right rear side member 52, and the outdoor floor crossmember 42 are coupled to one another by the bracket 170. Due to this, strength of the connections between these members is further improved. The bolts 112 fasten the outdoor floor crossmember 42, the right rear side member 52, and the bracket 170 to one another at a fastening point of the bolts 112. Due to this, the strength of the connection between the outdoor floor crossmember 42 and the right rear side member 52 is further improved.
When a collision from behind is applied to the vehicle, a load is applied forward to the right rear side member 52. In this case, the load is applied to the connections between the right rear side member 52, the right rocker 32, and the outdoor floor crossmember 42. In the vehicle in the embodiment, these connections are reinforced by the bracket 170, so that the connections are less susceptible to being ruptured when receiving the load applied thereto. At the connections, in particular, the position of the central axis 52x of the right rear side member 52 and the position of the central axis 32x of the right rocker 32 are displaced in the left-right direction, so that a shearing load is applied to the connection between the right rear side member 52 and the right rocker 32. Since the right rear side member 52 and the right rocker 32 are coupled by the bracket 170, the connection therebetween has high strength against the shearing load. Moreover, there may also be a case where a load directed to the center of the vehicle is applied, by a collision, to the right rear side member 52. In this case, the load is applied to the connection between the right rear side member 52 and the right rocker 32 in a direction that separates the right rear side member 52 and the right rocker 32. Since the right rear side member 52 and the right rocker 32 are coupled by the bracket 170, the connection therebetween has high strength against the load in the separating direction. As such, according to this configuration, the connection between the right rear side member 52 and the right rocker 32 is effectively reinforced against the shearing load and the load in the separating direction. As such, safety of the vehicle against collisions can be further improved. The connections between the left rear side member 50, the left rocker 30, and the outdoor floor crossmember 42 are similarly reinforced by the bracket for the trailing arm.
In the above-mentioned embodiment, the battery case 70 is located below the floor panel 20. However, in place of the battery case 70, another storage configured to store energy source may be located. For example, in a vehicle that uses gasoline as its energy source, a gasoline tank may be located below the floor panel 20. In a vehicle that uses hydrogen as its energy source, a hydrogen tank may be located below the floor panel 20. According to the above-described structure, the storage located below the floor panel 20 can be upsized and store much energy source regardless of the types of the storage.
Some of the features characteristic to the technology disclosed herein will be listed below. It should be noted that the respective technical elements are independent of one another, and are useful solely or in combinations.
In an aspect of vehicle disclosed herein, the rocker, the rear side member, and the bracket may be fastened to each other at the first fastening point by the first bolt.
According to this configuration, the strength of the connection between the rocker and the rear side member can be increased.
In an aspect of vehicle disclosed herein, the vehicle may further comprise an outdoor floor crossmember protruding downward from the floor panel and extending along a left-right direction of the vehicle. The bracket may be fastened to the outdoor floor crossmember at a third fastening point by a third bolt.
According to this configuration, since the rocker, the rear side member, and the outdoor floor crossmember are coupled by the bracket, the strength of the connections therebetween can be increased.
In an aspect of vehicle disclosed herein, the vehicle may further comprise a storage configured to store an energy source, the storage being located below the floor panel and on a front side of the outdoor floor crossmember.
In this configuration, since it is difficult to ensure a space for attaching the bracket to the rear side member, a configuration in which the bracket is attached to the connection between the rocker and the rear side member is more effective.
In an aspect of vehicle disclosed herein, the rear side member, the outdoor floor crossmember, and the bracket may be fastened to each other at the third fastening point by the third bolt.
According to this configuration, the strength of the connections between the rocker, the rear side member, and the outdoor floor crossmember can be increased.
In an aspect of vehicle disclosed herein, a central axis of the rear side member may be located closer to a center of the vehicle than a central axis of the rocker at a connection between the rear side member and the rocker.
In this configuration, when the vehicle is collided from behind, a shearing load is likely to be applied to the connection between the rear side member and the rocker. However, since the rear side member and the rocker are coupled via the bracket, strength of the connection between the rear side member and the rocker against the shearing load can be ensured.
While specific examples of the present disclosure have been described above in detail, these examples are merely illustrative and place no limitation on the scope of the patent claims. The technology described in the patent claims also encompasses various changes and modifications to the specific examples described above. The technical elements explained in the present description or drawings provide technical utility either independently or through various combinations. The present disclosure is not limited to the combinations described at the time the claims are filed. Further, the purpose of the examples illustrated by the present description or drawings is to satisfy multiple objectives simultaneously, and satisfying any one of those objectives gives technical utility to the present disclosure.
Matsumoto, Tomohiro, Kimura, Ryo
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Aug 06 2020 | MATSUMOTO, TOMOHIRO | Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 053925 | /0746 | |
Aug 06 2020 | MATSUMOTO, TOMOHIRO | Subaru Corporation | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 053925 | /0746 | |
Aug 07 2020 | KIMURA, RYO | Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 053925 | /0746 | |
Aug 07 2020 | KIMURA, RYO | Subaru Corporation | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 053925 | /0746 | |
Sep 30 2020 | Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
Sep 30 2020 | Subaru Corporation | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / |
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